Subject: What is this Geographic location of the bug: Pennsylvania Date: 01/15/2019 Time: 11:26 PM EDT Your letter to the bugman: What type of bug is this found it in a wall of a house How you want your letter signed: Quinnell

Silverfish

Dear Quinnell, You have Silverfish, a common household pest. According to BugGuide: “often found indoors in warm, damp environments; the Common Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) is frequently seen in bathrooms and kitchens, whereas the Firebrat (Thermobia domestica) is usually found in basements around furnaces and in insulation around hot water and heating pipes; these and other species also occur outdoors under bark, in leaf litter, caves, ant nests, deserts, etc” and preferred foods include “omnivorous: starchy foods, cereals, moist wheat flour, glue on book bindings and wallpaper, starch in clothing made of cotton or rayon fabric; outdoor individuals eat lichens.”

Subject: little guy crawling by Geographic location of the bug: Southeastern Michigan Date: 03/20/2018 Time: 02:59 PM EDT Your letter to the bugman: Hello Bugman, Can you help identify this for me. This bug was crawling across my wooden desk. The body was about 1 cm in length, not including the antenna or tail. This is the second one I’ve seen in the past couple of days. How you want your letter signed: Bug Curious Bill

Silverfish

Dear Bug Curious Bill, This Silverfish is a common household pest that will eat many organic substances and materials found in the home, including the glue used with wallpaper.

Subject: What bug is this Geographic location of the bug: Texas Date: 12/03/2017 Time: 04:55 PM EDT What is this bug? I found it in an old glasses case. How you want your letter signed: Help

Firebrat

This is a Silverfish, a common household pest that will eat just about anything organic it finds in the home, including the wallpaper glue and the glue in book bindings. We will postdate your submission to go live at the end of the month while our staff is out of the office for the holidays.

Update December 30, 2017: Thanks to a comment, we now realize this is a Firebrat.

Subject: Bug found in bathroom Geographic location of the bug: Bellingham wa Date: 10/01/2017 Time: 12:28 AM EDT What kind of bug is this How you want your letter signed: Jordan

Common Silverfish

Dear Jordan, This is a Silverfish, a common household pest that is generally found in dark, damp locations. Normally we do not attempt species identifications on Silverfish, but we believe, based on this BugGuide image, that your Silverfish is Lepisma saccharina, the Common Silverfish. According to BugGuide, the habitat is “indoors in warm, damp environments such as bathrooms and kitchens, or in damp basements; rarely encountered outdoors” and they eat “crumbs and food scraps, dried meat, cereals, moist wheat flour, glue on book bindings and wallpaper, starch in clothing made of cotton or rayon fabric.”

Subject: What is this bug Geographic location of the bug: Spring valley, NY Date: 10/02/2017 Time: 11:30 AM EDT Hi. Can you please identify this for me? I keep finding these bugs in my bathrooms mainly. Occasionally on the ceiling and they keep scurrying back to the wall. How you want your letter signed: Thank you for your time, sincerely, tzipora

Silverfish

Dear tzipora, This is a Silverfish, a common household pest that is generally found in damp, dark locations.

Subject: What’s That Bug? Location: Ventura, California April 28, 2017 Dearest Bugman, I live in Ventura, Ca a small coastal city about an hour north of LA. My home is on the hillside and I enjoy the small ecosystem in my neighborhood with a variety of birds (some of which sing morning and night), lizards, other critters I often do not encounter inside my home and a large variety of “bugs” of all types. I often have silverfish in my home and my practice is to acknowledge them and let them be, but I spotted this guy the other night on my kitchen floor and he looked a little different. I got down on the floor for an intimate photoshoot with this little fella, and also noticed that when I got close he would flutter small wings, but never really took flight. I snapped these shots with my iPhone and hopefully got enough details for you to determine just who my new friend is… 30 seconds after I switched off the kitchen light and sat down in the other room (with a view of the kitchen) I saw a mouse run across the very kitchen floor I had just been down and dirty on! Of course I screamed as this was my very first ever experience of any type of four legged animal in my domicile. I considered leaving for the evening and returning in daylight hours, but decided that it is my home and I will be a decent hostess even to the most unsavory of uninvited guests for a night or two. It took 3 nights and about 15 have a heart traps set in my kitchen by a professional, but the good news is it appears that there are no longer unwanted mammals in my home… which brings us back to the question at hand: have you seen this before? Signature: Melanie On the Irish Chain

Bristletail

Dear Melanie on the Irish Chain, The Bristletail in your images is a primitive insect that was once classified with Silverfish and several other groups that have since been taxonomically divided, with Bristletails now being classified in the Order Microcoryphia. BugGuide has some wonderfully detailed images of Bristletails. Based on this BugGuide information on habitat: “outdoor grassy or wooded environments: under bark, in leaf litter, rock crevices, or under stones; not normally found in homes, does not breed indoors, and not considered a pest” we would not classify this posting as a Household Pest, but considering your encounter with the rodent, we feel the tag is appropriate.